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Study shows 25% of Chinese web users can't go a day without web access

With the proliferation of online dating sites, social networking, online stores and other online conveniences, it has become easy for some users to feel addicted to the Internet.

Case in point, in February 2007 a man was fired from IBM for visiting an adult chat site. The man contended he was “self-medicating” via titillating chat because of post traumatic stress from the war in Vietnam and had become addicted to the Internet.

Today, Yahoo! News is reporting that a new study shows Chinese web users are more likely to become web addicts than their counterparts in America. The study was conducted by IAC (InterActiveCorp) and JWT, an advertising agency. Yahoo! News says that the study was conducted in November in both English and Chinese.

Study results show that only about 10 percent of the Chinese population uses the Internet, with many of the users being young males living in major cities. Almost 25 percent of surveyed Chinese Internet users claim they would not be able to spend more than a day without the Internet. In America only 12 percent of Internet users said they wouldn’t be able to spend a day without the Internet.

77 percent of study respondents from China also say that the Internet helps them make friends compared to only 32 percent of American users saying the same thing. Another study recently showed that teens used instant messaging services over the Internet to avoid embarrassment and to say things they couldn’t say in real life.

The new study by IAC reports similar findings with almost 75 percent of Chinese users saying they can say things on the Internet they can’t say in real life, while only 32 percent of American users say the same thing.

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By Clauzii on 11/26/2007 7:18:37 PM , Rating: 5
By keeping searching and searcing for a doorway to the outside world!




By xsilver on 11/26/2007 7:27:43 PM , Rating: 1
says the man who is living in a slightly bigger box than his neighbor.


By Dactyl on 11/26/2007 8:49:17 PM , Rating: 5
We're only slightly freer here in America than in China? Where websites are banned just for including the word "Tienanmen"?

What a joke. I realize it's fashionable to talk about how oppressed you are, but get a clue.


By Christopher1 on 11/26/2007 9:14:02 PM , Rating: 1
Well, we are getting to the point where we are being pretty oppressed, however it is nowhere near as bad as it is in China, at least not yet.


By FITCamaro on 11/26/2007 11:27:02 PM , Rating: 2
Yeah when the police come and arrest you for speaking out against the government, prevent you from having more than one child, censor your internet, and maintain tight controls on any web traffic going in or out of the country then you can talk.

All you people who talk against the government saying how bad we have it seem to forget you have the freedom to do so. In a place like China you don't.


By wordsworm on 11/27/2007 3:50:26 AM , Rating: 5
Spoken like a true ignoramus.

quote:
Yeah when the police come and arrest you for speaking out against the government,

Have you never heard of the patriotic act?

quote:
prevent you from having more than one child
China is one of the only countries in the world dealing with the problem of over population. A funny phenomenon is that the Chinese people I know, including a future in-law and a current cousin in-law don't want more than one child.

quote:
All you people who talk against the government saying how bad we have it seem to forget you have the freedom to do so.
The thing you don't understand is that it is a government of which every person is a member. Now, try to hang an Iranian flag outside of your house, big and bold, and let's see how long that lasts, and then you can tell us how free you are. Next, try taking an airplane with Arabic letters on your shirt, or 'We are the real terrorists' written on your shirt, and let's see how free you are. Heck, my brother who lives/lived in San Diego couldn't even hang a Canadian flag in his window. A Canadian was recently ordered to repaint his house so that his Greek flag celebrating a recent World Cup victory would no longer 'disturb the neighbors.' You're ignorant, most people in America and Canada have been brainwashed into thinking they have many freedoms when they do not. You think you have freedom because you've been led to think so by the media. You've been taught that anything outside of what is acceptable shouldn't be said, and therefore you've maintained your fallacious belief that you're free.

Let's further examine this 'freedom of the press.' Do you recall the trouble with Janet Jackson's nipple slip? The furor caused temporary censorship across the board. Noam Chomsky's idea of 'freedom of the press' is that liberal press allows Chomsky to read a preapproved script. Wake up from your press induced sleep. America is not free.

You're free to do what you want for as long as it doesn't oppose the fundamental principles and tenants of the American government, with the lines slightly changing according to who's in power, of the bipartisan government.

Some freedoms that Chinese have, have proven to be problematic. For example, in China, many companies have been free to dump chemicals and fertilizers in lakes and the ocean, causing significant environmental problems. So don't go thinking that freedom is always a good thing. It's how we define our freedoms that makes a culture what it is. That the Chinese hold different values than the Americans doesn't mean that the world's only super bully should be allowed dictating its own concept of right and wrong to a country that's had its own independence for more than 4,000 years. Do you really think it should give this up to a country barely more than 200?


By xsilver on 11/27/2007 4:45:22 AM , Rating: 5
Thanks for that - I wouldnt have bothered myself to type all that out.

DT readers here seem to be more "republican" so get used to this type of sentiment.

To the guy above to told me to get a clue how about this.
Start up a website in the US declaring "Jihad to all americans etc. etc." I would like to see how long it takes for the FBI to come knocking on your door.

Ask the average chinese person and political freedom is not exactly one of their priorities right now. Economic freedom is.


By clovell on 11/27/2007 11:12:35 AM , Rating: 3
Jihad is a declaration of war. Thanks for playing.


By FITCamaro on 11/27/2007 7:26:32 AM , Rating: 5
Japan ruled parts of China for decades in the past.

quote:
Now, try to hang an Iranian flag outside of your house, big and bold, and let's see how long that lasts, and then you can tell us how free you are.


You're perfectly free to hang whatever flag you want. Whether your neighbors will appreciate it is a different matter but that doesn't mean you don't have the freedom to do so.

quote:
A Canadian was recently ordered to repaint his house so that his Greek flag celebrating a recent World Cup victory would no longer 'disturb the neighbors.


Also you have to abide by the rules of your homeowners association. If you didn't like the rules, you shouldn't have moved into that neighborhood. I think its retarded that others can tell you what to do with your own home too, but thats why I won't buy a house in a neighborhood that restricts things like that.

quote:
Next, try taking an airplane with Arabic letters on your shirt, or 'We are the real terrorists' written on your shirt, and let's see how free you are.

As far as that t-shirt, you're perfectly free to wear it. While you might get a lot of ugly looks(not for the arabic letter one), there's no law that says you can't.

You seriously need to get a grip. And no, I feel that I'm free because I've never been stopped at trying to do something I wanted to do. I wear off color t-shirts because I don't care what others say about it. And yes I have heard of the patriot act. If it meant speaking out against the government got you arrested, you'd be in jail. You're not.

quote:
Let's further examine this 'freedom of the press.' Do you recall the trouble with Janet Jackson's nipple slip? The furor caused temporary censorship across the board.


You think I actually care about the press? Our press enjoys far more freedoms than most. Too much in fact in my view. "Tonight on CNN, we tell you how to make a bomb with household chemicals. But please don't." or "Tonight. How safe are our nuclear power plants? We tell you exactly how you can take over one. Terrorists, please don't watch." As far as Janet's "nipple slip", yes it was overblown and I really didn't give a sh*t. That has nothing to do with freedom. It has to do with people taking offense at anything and everything.

quote:
You're free to do what you want for as long as it doesn't oppose the fundamental principles and tenants of the American government, with the lines slightly changing according to who's in power, of the bipartisan government.


If that were true, people like Michael Moore would be in a jail cell.


By wordsworm on 11/27/2007 8:16:49 AM , Rating: 5
quote:
If that were true, people like Michael Moore would be in a jail cell.

Michael Moore did more to discredit the conspiracy theory than anything. It's like watching bozo the clown talk about something serious. He did OK with his earlier films, but his sentimental approach and occasional factual slips are extremely bothersome. Don't forget: he worked for Disney, one of the great conglomerate media companies of the world. Do you really think he'd do something to irk them? Not a chance...

quote:
Japan ruled parts of China for decades in the past.

Japan and England both ruled extremely small parts of China. I'm surprised you forgot Mongolia. Japan never really ruled China any more than England did. A few rocks here and there don't constitute conquering China. Even Mongolia never completely conquered China.

As for 'abide by the rules of your homeowners association,' these rules rule out your freedom, which happens astonishingly often to the common American. You can't even have sex with your girlfriend if you attend some universities, without the risk of being kicked out. That's just crazy stuff guy. America is *not* free.

Really, about the Arabic shirt, I wanted to provide a reference, but I couldn't find it. There's an article I read not too long ago about an activist wearing a t-shirt with Arabic words on it. He was detained and he missed his flight.

I'm not in America. I'm a Canadian in S. Korea.

You feel free because you fit in the margins that your American society has decided is OK. You'll wear a faded t-shirt, and any Chinese can wear a faded t-shirt. So, that is something in common.

Anyways, as Orwell put it, 'Only the animals and the proles are free.'


By tedrodai on 11/27/2007 9:29:58 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
As for 'abide by the rules of your homeowners association,' these rules rule out your freedom, which happens astonishingly often to the common American.


Where did you aquire your warped sense of logic? Homeowner's association rules can definitely 'rule out your freedoms' by preventing you from turning your yard into a jungle, and keep you from painting your house with a swirly-multicolored hippie pallete, but you completely ignored the guy's comment about how he can choose not to live in a neighborhood like that.

quote:
You can't even have sex with your girlfriend if you attend some universities, without the risk of being kicked out. That's just crazy stuff guy. America is *not* free.


Let me tell you how that *is* freedom. Some people have moral values that include “YOU-MAY-NOT-HAVE-SEX-OUTSIDE-MARRIAGE!” They have the right to run a school a university that promotes those values, just as you have the right to attend a less-asnine university if you think those values are rediculous. Trust me, there’s plenty to choose from. You even have the right to fight against those values in the proper channels, but good luck with that.

If you feel socially-pressured to attend a place like this against your will, you need to accept that you and your family aren’t going to get along, or find a new group of friends—no one else can govern your social life for you, unless you let them.

quote:
You feel free because you fit in the margins that your American society has decided is OK.


Duh. If I wanted to ignore what everyone around me thought, I'd go live in the wilderness as a hunter-gatherer and scare everyone away by making my neck of the woods seem haunted. If you show me a place where social interaction doesn't produce 'acceptable boundaries' about the way people live together, you're showing me anarchy and a very unsafe place to live.

If you WERE in the USA, no one could arrest you for your antiestablishment sentiment, but you'll have to forgive me for feeling free to call you one of the less inteligent educated people on the planet.


By tedrodai on 11/27/2007 10:01:50 AM , Rating: 3
I apoligise in advance for letting post degrade into a personal attack with that last comment, however mild, but that really struck a nerve. For someone who doesn't even live here to verbally attack the freedoms provided by our country based on what the media feeds him, they can expect that I'll not take it well.

The US government has it's problems, but it sure provides a great deal of freedom. Even when it tries to take away freedoms, citizens are perfectly able to oppose such nonsense when they choose--and if we don't, it's our own damn fault. As long as humans interact with each other, there will always be people who try to impose their ideas upon everyone else.

Here in the USA, even if I've felt scared of what everyone will think about me, I've never felt 'not-free' to do whatever the heck I wanted to do (minus violently attacking certain idiots, etc, but thankfully my brain can correct these negative thoughts before I do anything stupid).


By FITCamaro on 11/27/2007 9:36:50 AM , Rating: 1
So you've never lived in America and don't even live on the same continent, but you're an expert on it?

Since you're close, go to Beijing. Spit out a piece of gum on a sidewalk near a cop. See what happens. Go to where the government is. Start talking about how oppressive it is. See what happens. What happens in DC when you do those things? Absolutely nothing.

quote:
his sentimental approach and occasional factual slips


Occasional factual slips? In Fahrenheit 911, there wasn't hardly a thing that was actually completely true. Just a bunch of bullshit twisted to look bad.

quote:
As for 'abide by the rules of your homeowners association,' these rules rule out your freedom, which happens astonishingly often to the common American.


Again. Thats a homeowners association. The government has nothing to do with them. They're not laws, they're rules you agree to live by when you move into the neighborhood. No one took your freedoms away. You signed them away when you moved there. If you didn't want to give them up, you shouldn't have moved there. That's like saying someone took your pen after you gave it to them.

quote:
You can't even have sex with your girlfriend if you attend some universities, without the risk of being kicked out. That's just crazy stuff guy. America is *not* free.


Again. Rules of a university. Not the government. They're allowed to make whatever rules they want within the bounds of the law. If you don't like them, don't go to that college.

As far as that guy getting held with the t-shirt. Being of middle eastern heritage and wearing a shirt like that, probably not a good idea. Should he have been stopped from wearing it? No. Would some passenger's probably be uncomfortable? Likely. You might consider that they told him to change for his own good due to some of the nut jobs out there who might try to pick a fight with him for it.


By clovell on 11/27/2007 11:28:06 AM , Rating: 3
> As for 'abide by the rules of your homeowners association,' these rules rule out your freedom,

They also protect the freedoms of others, and you're free to move where you want. They can also be changed by the neighborhood through a democratic process if they need to be.

> ...which happens astonishingly often to the common American.

Not trying to take a personal jab at you, but how well would you know?

> You can't even have sex with your girlfriend if you attend some universities, without the risk of being kicked out.

I've never heard of such a thing - where did you hear that?

> There's an article I read not too long ago about an activist wearing a t-shirt with Arabic words on it. He was detained and he missed his flight.

So? The guy got what he asked for. The only reason he'd choose to wear such a shirt on a flight is to stir up trouble like that. The guy obviously wanted attention, and he knew what would probably happen. The guy got his attention, and the people on the plane got their protection - win-win.

Anyways, as Orwell put it, 'Only the animals and the proles are free.'

Orwell isn't Plato. He was a fiction writer.


By theapparition on 11/27/2007 12:10:30 PM , Rating: 2
I have to say you are arguing the dumbest point I've ever seen here.

Are American's (or anyone in the world) truly "free"? Of course not.....because complete freedom would mean I could murder you with no consequences. There are laws which restrict what we can do. So technically, you are correct.

But being technically correct doesn't change the fact that you are still wrong in the context of this argument. Americans enjoy some of the greatest freedoms in the world. Very few counties even approach our level of personal choices. Every single instance you gave in your original argument, evey single one , has absolutely no basis in government repressed freedoms. You are free to speak arabic anyhwhere in the US. You are free to name your teddy bear Mohammad without being arrested for blasphemy (current event). You are free to hang any flag outside your house. Any restrictions imposed for doing those things do NOT come from the government, but rather local ordinances, or company policies. For example, the US goverment doesn't restrict the rights of women to wear burkas, but some companies may not chose to employ that person. Do you see the difference? It's night and day to everyone else.

So tell me where in the world is anyone truely "free"? Since you can't, then you were just stupidly arguing a technicality which gets nowhere, except making you look the fool.


By FITCamaro on 11/27/2007 12:53:13 PM , Rating: 1
I'm glad some people still have some f***ing common sense and don't blame the government for everything they don't like.


By CascadingDarkness on 11/28/2007 2:13:21 PM , Rating: 2
There might be some places in Africa that are currently 'free'. Not sure I'm going to be planning any trips there anytime soon to partake though. I think I'm allergic to machetes.


By Screwballl on 11/28/2007 1:20:45 PM , Rating: 2
there is a difference between CHOICE and FREEDOM

People choose to live in a neighborhood with a homeowners association, they live there for that reason. They have the freedom to choose to live there or not. If they choose to then the rules of the homeowners association restricts them from certain activities. You choose to buy a Camry without an MP3 player hookup, so are your freedoms restricted because you chose to do or buy something that doesn't have an option that you would normally choose? Did Toyota restrict your freedom by not including on every single car they make or you chose to buy one without?
If you had half a brain you would have actually read at least some of the Patriot Act (before even commenting on it) which states that if a person is a threat to national security then can be detained. This does NOT mean someone saying "f**k Bush" can be arrested for saying so. Now if someone CHOOSES to claim they have a bomb and will bomb anything, that becomes a matter of security and freedoms will be removed as you sit rotting in a jail cell.
Some people choose to have more than 1 child, there is no restriction on this in the US and most other countries. It is your freedom and choice to have as many kids as you want within the US and its territories. China removes that freedom for the good of the country.. I am not saying that is right or wrong but that is the government's CHOICE.
You have the freedom to hang any flag you want whether it is for Iran or the Dixie flag provided your CHOICE of home ownership is not in an area that prohibits it. As for the need to repaint a house or remove a Canadian flag, we would need to see direct links before we would believe that happened outside of a homeowners association controlled neighborhood or gated community.
The media reports it and the simple minded people take that as fact. That is also a generalization, a stereotype. Most people are smart enough that when they hear of 3000 deaths in Iraq, they also know that we saved millions of lives in the process, risk a few to save many. Freedom of the Press does not mean you can put a Playboy on the front rack spread wide open and call it a news publication. Freedom of press is the ability to report on events without interference or restriction from the government. Thats not to say that pretty much every news outlet is so damn liberal biased that they only say how bad everything is. That is their freedom to do so and that is what they believe sells people on their news. Just the same that National Geographic has the freedom to publish magazines and TV shows that show how much good has happened in this world. Someone reading from a script is their job handled down by their supervisors. This is not anti-freedom but freedom that if they don't like the scripts then they have the freedom and choice to find another job they agree with.
Age of a country is nothing in this modern day global economy and relating to the global weather and wildlife. We use our choice to help other countries to change their destructive ways such as dumping radioactive waste into a river. they have the choice to listen or not. That is not a freedom but a choice.
Learn the difference.


By arazok on 11/27/2007 8:06:51 AM , Rating: 2
Yeah? Go to china and become a spokesperson for child molesting like you do here and see where that gets you. For some reason, you're still allowed to walk the streets. Yeah, you're sooo oppressed.

You dirty piece of crap.


I like to think of it this way:
By daBKLYNdoorman on 11/26/2007 8:36:40 PM , Rating: 2
There is a higher chance than a minor will get addicted to cigarettes because he or she has a harder time getting the cigarettes.

There is a higher chance than a Chinese person will get addicted to the internet because he or she has a harder time getting access to it.

If you were insulted, then please accept my apologies.




RE: I like to think of it this way:
By Christopher1 on 11/26/07, Rating: -1
By FITCamaro on 11/26/2007 11:33:14 PM , Rating: 1
Or maybe people get addicted to cigarettes and drugs because they're actually physically addicting. Addiction to the internet is purely mental. As far as a sex addiction, I think anyone who enjoys sex is an addict of it. Sure some are nymphomaniacs but I think that more comes from personal experiences through life and also probably low self esteem/self worth. You don't become addicted to sex from having it too much.

Kids start using drugs and smoking cigarettes sometimes because of parents saying they can't, other times because their peers say its cool, and sometimes both.


RE: I like to think of it this way:
By Ringold on 11/27/2007 1:35:10 AM , Rating: 3
quote:
gasp! SEX!


First a post on being oppressed, now a post with children and sex in the same post together.

Don't have to share your sexual escapades at the age of 3; we've already heard that one, at least. Can keep the kiddy porn to yourself; I heard Russia is more allowing of such material, but who knows how accurate that is.

In Russia, though, you can ask Kasparov what happens if you question the Czar. Give and take, I suppose.


RE: I like to think of it this way:
By mdogs444 on 11/27/2007 7:00:40 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
Don't have to share your sexual escapades at the age of 3; we've already heard that one, at least. Can keep the kiddy porn to yourself;


Seriously. Everytime this guy posts, it like he is searching for the social acceptance from us based on his pedophile activities.

Please Christopher, leave those posts & comments to the blog sites with your other sick buddies.


By FITCamaro on 11/27/2007 7:28:39 AM , Rating: 3
My question is why DT doesn't delete his account and ban his IP.


By CascadingDarkness on 11/28/2007 2:33:23 PM , Rating: 2
I sympathize with him to the minium extent I can use that word. Obviously what happened as a child has messed up his perceptions greatly. He constantly talks about how children should be able to allow what they want.

The huge thing wrong with that is children have no experiance, are impressionable, and down right dumb. This is why their parents take care of them. Also why we have a little thing called age of consent. It's there for a reason, because no child knows enough about anything to be able to decide for themselves when sexual things should be done.

He's obviously convinced himself otherwise. If not, then what happened to him when he was little was a horrible damaging thing.

When it comes down to it I think we should get Christopher some court appointed help. I might suggest a locked mental facility that doesn't let him near any children I know until he changes his view.


RE: I like to think of it this way:
By glenn8 on 11/26/2007 9:26:19 PM , Rating: 2
I doubt many smokers/drug users do it because their parents forbid them. It has more to do with friends and such. If no one thought it was cool to smoke, I doubt many people would do no matter what their parents say.

As for Chinese internet users, 10% of 1 billion is 100 million. I don't think they have such a hard time getting it.


Maybe not now..
By Clauzii on 11/26/2007 11:07:24 PM , Rating: 2
Firstly, I'm from DK, not china, and YES! we all live in a box, just a little bigger than the one next door. Still today, there are people that DON'T live in a box ie. mother nature and all that. Sometimes quite a fascinating quest.

I have in no way been insulted, since that was some of my thoughts too.

And the fact that SOME censorship is going on over there keeps people from choosing themselves scares me a bit. (Here I'm not refering to the parent/child "censorship" relation but state/internet censorship of course).

The internet was born to be free, and will stay free - take it or leave it.

10% connected in China is not a lot. In DK: 98% connected / 60% via DSL / ~15% through optic.

But China is a rising nation, and will require a very high demand for internet bandwidth possibly doubleing even tripleing the amount of information on the current net, all needing even more PCs and servers around the globe.

So one can say that the chinese are assured of both their own need and success. (Even though of course, there will be several global companies getting a rise in their pockets too, since they are the once actually inventing the stuff.

And so the internet will grow and grow, and grow...




RE: Maybe not now..
By Clauzii on 11/26/2007 11:13:09 PM , Rating: 2
And sorry for my spelling mistakes ;) Haven't been writing english for a long time...


Irony
By brownzilla786 on 11/26/2007 10:28:54 PM , Rating: 2
The new study by IAC reports similar findings with almost 75 percent of Chinese users saying they can say things on the Internet they can’t say in real life,

I would have expected less on china's part given the limitations the government puts on their internet, but I guess not.




By Mitchy on 11/27/2007 12:14:16 PM , Rating: 1
What the hell is with these stupid ass Study news? Like, that last 3 have been all stupid crap that is completely obvious to anyone who has half a braincell.




"We can't expect users to use common sense. That would eliminate the need for all sorts of legislation, committees, oversight and lawyers." -- Christopher Jennings











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